Black Cake

Name: Black Cake
Yield: Makes 2
Cuisine: Trinidad & Tobago
Ingredients: ½ pound candied cherries; 1 pound currants; 1 pound prunes; 1 pound raisins; ¼ cup cherry brandy; 2 tablespoons sherry; ¼ cup dark rum; 4 cups cherry brandy or cherry wine; 1 tablespoon burnt sugar syrup (see Tip); ½ teaspoon mixed essence; ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice; ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 6 eggs; 1 cup dark brown sugar; 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened; 2 star anise pods; 1 cinnamon stick; 4 cups dark rum, such as Old Oak; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 2 cups all-purpose flour; ½ vanilla bean; ¼ pound candied mixed citrus peel

Preparation info

Makes
2

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Sweet Hands

By Ramin Ganeshram

Published 2018

About

Many a culinarian has waxed prolific about the Black Cake’s rich aromatic flavors and unusual texture that is something between a plum pudding and a pound cake. Although it could technically be called a fruitcake because of the candied and dried fruits that comprise its bulk, no fruitcake ever tasted this good!

Special credit must be given here to Mrs. Irma Hannays of Woodbrook, who is noted throughout Trinidad and many other Caribbean islands for her sweet hands wh